I finished the twins' (Blake and Brock) Slipper socks. I will give it to them this Thursday when I see them at school. I hope they like them and will wear them. They are made of Dream in Color Groovy, which is their chunky weight, in Bayou colorway, which is their September Dream Club color. The pattern is Slipper Socks, which came with the purchase of the yarn, knit on size 6 & 7 needles. The 2 pairs took a little more than 2 skeins of yarn.

I have been wanting to try my hand at stranded knitting. So when I saw this pattern in this month's Vogue Knitting magazine, I decided to try it. I ordered the yarn, Knit One, Crochet too, it came in, and I casted on Saturday. I finished them today - 4 days. Not too bad. This was knit on size 5 needles.
There is quite a bit of puckering. It is pretty hard to maintain tension.
From what I have read, it takes alot of practice.
These pictures are of the hat unblocked. It is soaking as I write this. Hopefully, blocking will even out some of the puckering. We'll see.

I really enjoyed doing this and already have another hat pattern picked out, The Hat Besserud by Pinneguri (who does unbelievable stranded work).

I am going to try to finish my Numma Numma blanket tonight while watching Biggest Loser. Only the border left to finish.

Starts and Finishes

I started a scarf (I really dislike knitting scarves) out of Yarntini chunky in Merlot colorway. The pattern is Steam (slightly altered), and I am knitting it on size 10.5 needles. I am making this for the STA Lobster Bash.

And, even though I have 3 single socks right now without mates, I couldn't resist casting on another when I got this yarn in the mail from The Loopy Ewe. It is so fun to knit with.

I finished the Sockhead sock, in Yarntini McDreamy stripe. I think I am going to put this away and give it to Ashtyn for Christmas. It was very easy and fun to make. I can definitely see more of these in my future.

Next, I finished my Big Bad Baby Blanket in Koigu, just in time for Baby Gryffin's baby shower this past Sunday. He should make his arrival into the world in a few weeks.

These are also for BG (Baby Gryf).
Have a great week.

This past week or so, I have started a few new things, finished a couple of things, and, of course, acquired a few skeins of yarn. (All the while watching tennis on TV).

I casted on a pair of Slipper Socks yesterday and knitted away. Let me tell you - chunky yarn + size 7 needles sure knits up quickly. I am making these for a couple of basketball players at our high school. They are twins, and they have asked me for about a year now to knit them some socks. They have even asked YS to ask me to make them socks. Well, you can imagine my hesitation to knit them socks. First of all, they're twins - so that means 2 of them which equals 4 socks. You know about SSS (second sock syndrome), but what about third and fourth sock syndrome? And as you can also imagine, they are basketball players; so you know what that means - size 12.5 feet!!! So when I came across this yarn, I thought it would be perfect for them. I stopped at this point so that YS can try them on for size purposes. Also, I think I'm gonna need another skein or two of yarn.

I also casted on a Sockhead Hat in Yarntini self-striping in McDreamy colorway. I actually have a few more inches done on this since the picture was taken.

I knitted up this little baby gift for a friend of mine whose son just had her first grandchild. It's knit in Socks that Rock heavyweight, Goody Goody colorway. The pattern is called Sweet Baby Kate from Carrie at Irishgirlieknits. I did make a couple of revisions, one of which is the ribbed edging on the hat and socks. The pattern calls for a picot edge, which I find very tedious and fiddly. The entire set only took about 3-4 hours of knitting time.
I also finished the little camouflage socks from the previous post for my great-nephew. They fit him perfectly. He put them on and ran around in them, slipping and sliding, despite 90 degree heat. I will have to get a picture of them on him, as I forgot to take a FO pic.

In yarn acquisitions, I received this skein of Vesper self-striping sock yarn in Harvest Summer colorway. I believe it was the August club color.

In a ravelry trade, I received 4 skeins of Wollmeise Molly in Pfefferminz Prinz. I'm not sure if I love this color so much. I might just hold onto it for trading purposes.

I got this kit from The Loopy Ewe in support of Ovarian Cancer. Sheri @ TLE is donating all of the proceeds from this kit to research for ovarian cancer.

And I got some beautiful Yarntini Chunky in Merlot. I will use this for a scarf, Cinder by Jared Flood, which I will probably donate to our high school for their annual Lobster Bash fundraiser.

This yarn is String Theory Caper sock in Essence colorway. It has cashmere in it. Need I say more?

And I received another Rainbow Cocktail set from the awesome Jessie at Yarntini. I can now finish my blanket.

WIP's and More Football

I just started Part 4 of my Shetland Pi Shawl; I am enjoying this so much. The yarn is Dream in Color Classy, which is a worsted weight, in Petal Showers. It is wonderful to work on. I recently increased to 576 stitches per round, so progress may slow down just a bit. But I am going to be doing a lot of knitting in the next 2 weeks - the US Open started today.

I completed sock one of my no-purl Monkeys in Wollmeise twin, Skandal um Rosi. I love this yarn. It is literally flying off the needles.

Another single sock completed is my Malabrigo sock in Tiziano Red, Kalajoki pattern. I have never used Malabrigo sock yarn, and it too is great to knit with. It is a little on the thin side, so I casted on 68 stitches instead of my usual 64, on 2.25 mm needles.

As you know, YS is playing football again this year. He does not play alot in varsity games, but luckily, they have 9 junior varsity games scheduled this season. This past Saturday was the JV jamboree, where he played most of the game. The next few photos captures him making a tackle. He played really well.
Above - he's got his eye on the ball.

Below - he gets low and ready to pounce.
Below - he wraps him up.

And then takes him down.
Go Falcons!!!

And let's go, Andy!!

It's Football Season Again!!

Alex is playing football again this year. That's him - #11. He plays defense - free safety. He is the person that has to tackle the person who has broken through everyone else. Usually, if he doesn't tackle the guy, they score a touchdown. Good luck, Al.

I finished another pair of socks yesterday. These are knit from Dream in Color Smooshy, Good Luck Jade colorway, on 2.25 mm needles. The pattern is Not So Cable Socks by Sockbug. This makes pair #17 this year.

Progress on the Harvest Moon baby blanket in Numma Numma Doppio Frosting . . . about 21 inches.

And the Wollmeise Skandal Monkeys . . . love the way they are striping.

This is the result of Part 2 of Wendy's Pi Shawl KAL. She posts the next part tomorrow.
Have a great weekend.

I whipped up a little pair of "slipper socks" for Clay. They are Lorna's Laces sportweight in Camouflage color. Pattern is 2x2 rib for an inch, then turn the heel. I've stopped because I need to try them on him to measure the length. Hope they fit. He was so cute when I made the little Wollmeise top for Ashtyn a couple of weeks ago. After she tried it on, he took off his shirt and said, "I try it." LOL

I finished my July STR kit. I really like the way these turned out. The colors are very pretty, and I always like Anne Hanson's patterns. I'll definitely knit this pattern again.
The heel is supposed to look like a beet. I think it looks like a heart.
BTW, this is my 16th pair of socks that I have completed so far this year.

And, since I finished a pair, of course I started another. Wollmeise Skandal um Rosi in twin on 2.25 mm needles - no-purl Monkeys.
Have a great week. I am patiently waiting for part 2 of Wendy's shawl KAL. I'll post my progress in the next day or two.

Shawl KAL

I decided to join a shawl KAL (knit-along). This one is on Wendy Johnson's blog here, and you can also see it here (ravelry link). She explains it all and has put up the first part of the pattern today. She will put up the second part this Wednesday, the third part next Sunday, and then the fourth and fifth parts up on the next two Sundays thereafter. You can, of course, work at your own pace.

The premise is that you can use whatever yarn you'd like - lace, fingering, sport, worsted, etc. - on whatever size needle you want. I am using Dream in Color Classy, which is a worsted weight, in Petal Shower colorway. I already had 4 skeins, and will probably need another 1 or 2 before it is finished. Oh, and I am using a size 8 needle.

The picture below is the first part. I think it looks like a boob.

I had a couple of visitors this weekend.
Don't let these 2 pictures deceive you. I assure you, they did not do a whole lot of lying around - only after much running and playing did they take brief naps.





Have a great week.